The ties that bond? Social capital in families

While many people report their closest and most reinforced social ties are to family, these ties have not always been considered through the lens of social capital. Research framing family social resources as social capital has largely focused on how youth benefit from connections to their parents and, in turn, their parents’ connections to other adults, such as neighbors, coworkers, teachers, and religious co-congregants. Another approach frames social capital created across extended family connections as a valuable resource for immigrants, while a third examines benefits to family-owned businesses. This chapter outlines findings rooted in these approaches for family social capital across the life course, the surprising lack of research on midlife adults’ family social capital, and the need to examine social capital created with siblings and extended family. The authors also outline how future research can apply family social capital concepts to other fields.